Folding mechanism



1933. v c. s. CRAFTS ET AL 1,895,124

' FOLDING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 14. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 24, 1933.CRAFTS ET AL 1,895,124

v C ANISM Dec. 14.

' Fil Ja V 40 Patented Jan. 24, 1933 assent!) UNITED-STATES TENToFF1cjETi' CURTIS s. cw'rs Ann CHARLES ALOINZO Hnn nsS, on A1: Penn,ILLINOIS, nssienons TO THE GOSS PRINTING PRESS COMPANY, or GI I AGO,ILLINOIS, A CQRPORATIONOF ILLINOIS FOLDING mnicnAN sn Application filedDecember. 14; 1931. Serial No. 580,930.

The invention relates to new andcus'eful lmprovements 1n sheet grippingdevices, and

in certain aspects thereof more particularly to improved spring grippersor folding aws especially adapted for use in printing presses.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in parthereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned bypractice with the invention, the same being realized andattained bymeans of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in theappended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements,combinations and improvements herein shown and described. 1 Theaccompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting apart hereof,illus trate one embodiment of the invention, and

together with the'descriptiomserve to ex-' plain the principles of theinvention.

F ig. 1 is a fragmentary view showing. in elevation a gripper embodyingour invention;

- Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing in elevation a somewhat differentform of gripper embodying the invention; f- Fig. 3 is aplan'corresponding to Fig. 1; Fig.4 is a plan corresponding to Fig. 2;Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on line 55 of Fig. 6 showing inelevation a folding jaw embodyingthe invention; and

Fig. 6 is a plan corresponding to Fig. 5. The invention is directed toproviding novel and improved sheet taking instrumentalities, operatingby a gripping or clamping action, either medianly or on the edge, of asheet or group of sheets, as in feed ng or folding; and in its mainfeatures being capac tated for use either in a grip-per finger mechanismor a folding jaw mechanism. The invention provides as a gripping orclamping device, a resilient Jaw or finger comprising a plurality oflaminated spring leavesgradually increasing in length from the shaft orlike support forwardly toward the free end, the engaging pressure beingexerted by said resilient forward end. Preferably also the entirelaminated spring de vice is maintained under. initial. tension,"

which is immediately imparted tothe sheet or sheets at the moment ofcontact, and prior to. any additional pressure that may be ap.

plied through further movement of "*the mechanism; J 1

In accordance with certain features of the invention, these devices aremounted and operated as a plurality of fingersor the like, mounted sideby side on an actuating.sup.-

port, such as a rockable shaft, the variolis members thus exerting anindividual resilient gripping or. jaw action when engaging the sheet orsheets, but' the entire mechanism movingtogether between open to closedp0.-

slt on. I

The present preferred embodiment, in its main features, comprises ashaft, or'like sup port, upon which the resilient sheet-engaging andholding instrumentality is mounted; the shaft being rocked through asmall angle to effect the opening and closing movement, and

this may be done .by a cam mechanism of standard or-other'suitable form.In either the gripper or folding jaw mechanism, there is preferablyemployed a plurality'of sheet engaging individual members, of laminatedresilient spring material, and mounted u on the shaft or equivalentsupport, wherebyt ey have common opening and closing movement but eachmember has independent or individual resilient action when'engaging-the.Sheet or sheets. Further, in saidzpreferableform, each of the individualresilient sheeti-engag ing members is constructed and mounted as a unit,and in addition means are incorporated for imposing upon. eachresilientsheetengaging member an initial tension. All of the foregoingfeatures conduce tosimplici-ty and efficiency in manufacture, assemblingand operation.

asolid strip or bar of metal; is softer and "more flexible in itsaction, "and does not hit the cylinder with a hammer iblow, but with acushion blowwhich does not loosen the gripper on the shaft, "or loosenor disintegrate the shaft and its bearings. Furthermore, the

laminated gripper, being very flexible, Will i take a wide variationthickness of prod- *ucts without the necessity of resetting, as is thecase with stiff, non-flexible gripping members, and permits ofside-by-side handling of a product or products of various thicknesses.The gripper can be made relatively-small and light with respect to theimposed duty, which greatly eases the strain The proper tension is alsoheld on the. sheet at all times when the gripper is in contact I withit, and the sheet is released instantly upon a very. small movement ofthe shaft;

that is, there is no lag and unnecessary movement of the shaft tobuildup tension and ordisintegrate the cam mechanism is obviated. -Thefolding plurality of members opening and closing together,but havingindividual resilient actionrduring the folding operation. Theindividually. resilient jaw will hold products varying relativelygreatly in. thickness, and it will be. found unnecessary to reset thejaw incase products 'ofdifi'erent thicknesses are 1 run side-by-side.

Inlthe employment of the invention, either as a gripper or folding jaw,devices are provided for imposing. on'each individual member initialspring tension, an. instantaneous preliminary pressure of predeterminedmagnitude the moment the gripper finger or folding jaw engages thepaper, and 'it is unnecessary to havean 1ncreasedmovement of the shaft.or like support to; build up this tension. This gives a uniformtensionWltll'fi. minimum amount of throw." v C q Referring. now in detailto thepresent preferred' embodiment. of the invention illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings, a form. of' double grippermechanism, such. as isfrequently employed on cylinder sheet-fed presses,is shown in Fig. 1. The cylinder structure is indicated at 1, anda pair,of gripper supporting and actuating shafts v2 and 3- are shown mountedin the cylinder. These shafts are periodically rocked. through a smallangle, .manner,,and this may be donebyany standard, well-known, or othersuitable mecha- ,As so embodied, for each of the individual gripperfingers, a plurality of apertured sup- ,ports 10 are mounted on theshaft 2 or 3, the supports being spaced along-the shaft (Fig.

EThesesupportsare split, are-slipped on the shaft, and have two lugs 11and 12 facing-at either side of thesplit, both; of

;which lugs have internal screw-threadedap on the cam motion.-

jaw may beformed' ina which gives in the usual ertures. A bolt 13 isscrew-threaded into the lugs, its position upon the shaft. gaging membercomprises a laminated, superposed leaf springs. 14,

which are mounted upon a support 15, and

abut against a lu'g 22, both preferably formed as a part of thesupporting member 10. An upp'eror outside retaining member 16 rests uponthe springs and also preferably abuts against lug 22, and the grippingfinger and supports are held together by suitable'means such as a rivet17. The laminated leaf springs .14 are of graduated length, increasingforwardly toward'the front or sheet-engaging .end. The means for placingthe gripper finger under initial tension-is preferably a partof thesupporting member 10, and-as shown, a projection ing toward thelaminated spring finger 1 1, whereby the gripper finger is under adesired initial tension between the parts 16 and 21, and a correspondingpressure is immediately'transmitted to thesheet or sheets as soon as itis, engaged by the gripper finger.

In Fig. 2 a similar construction is shown,

mounted on supporting and actuating shaft 3, and'operating as anauxiliary gr pper, co-

' identical with similar parts in Fig. '1.

The invention as embodied in a folding jaw is exemplarily shown in Figs.5 and 6, mounted on a cylinder orllike member 32.. The sup-1.

porting and opening and closing means is I 21,is formed in the forwardend of the member 1,5 projectfi shown comprising a shaft 31, mounted inthe cylinder 32, by means of ball bearings 33. The shaft 31 is actuatedby anysuitable means, such as a standard cam mechanism, or othermechanism as'found convenient or desirable. Thegripper jaw preferablycomprises a'plurality of side-by-side, spaced-apart resilient members,each comprising a plurality the front of-the folding j awl, Theresilient jaw members 34 are mounted on a supporting member structure isfastened together by, a

of superposed laminated. spring members. 34 i ,of graduated length fromthe back toward rivet 37. The entire device .isseated in a re- 7 cesssinshaft 31 and the rear end of the device abuts on the rear wall of therecess, and it is .he i rlaqe y eeh e b l 38. P ssi therethrough andscrew-threaded into the shaft 31.

In the embodied form of means for placing the various folding jawmembers under initial spring tension, the forward end 41 of the plate 85is projected upwardly so as to slightly flex the spring members 34between the part 41 and the top plate 36. The support 35 may be integrallongitudinally, and to afford the individual resilient action andregulation, plate 35 may be slotted, as shownat 42, between therespective spring members 34, and these may be individually bentslightly to vary the initial spring tension on the various members. Afolding jaw 49 is shown, mounted on cylinder 32, and this may be of anyknown or suitable form or construction, and may be provided with anydesired adjustments. A suitablefolding blade is indicated at 50.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specificmechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefromwithin the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from theprinciples of the invention and without sacrificing its chiefadvantages.

What we claim is 1. A gripping device including in combination alaminated leaf spring jaw and means for moving it between open andclosed positions. a

2. A gripping device including in combination a shaft, a gripping devicemounted thereon and comprising a plurality of laminated spring leaves ofgraduated length, and means for rocking the shaft to effect the grippingaction.

3. A gripping device including in combination a gripping membercomprising a plurality of spring leaves of graduated length, a supportfor said gripping member, and means for moving it between gripping andnon-gripping positions. 7

4. A gripping device including in combination a laminated leaf springgripping member, means for imparting initial tension to said member, andmeans for moving it between gripping and non-gripping positions.

5. A gripping device including in combination a jaw comprising aplurality of laminated leaf springs of graduated length forwardly, acooperating aw, means for effecting opening and closing movement, saidlaminated jaw having gripping contact near its forward end. 7

6. A gripping device including in combination a longitudinal support, aplurality of independently resilient. sheet engaging and holdingdevicesmounted on the support, means for moving the support andinseparate laminated spring gripping devices mounted on the support, andmeans for moving the support and spring devices together betweengripping and non-gripping positions. I 8. A, gripping device includingin combination a shaft, a jaw member comprising a plurality of laminatedleaf springs of graduated length forwardly, means for imposingpreliminary tension on the laminated spring jaw member, and means forrocking the shaft. p

9. A gripping device including in combination a shaft, a rigid supportmounted thereon, and a jaw member comprising'aplu- 1 .rality oflaminated leaf springswof gra'duated length forwardly, means on thesupport for imposing preliminary spring tensionon the laminated springjaw member, and means for rocking the shaft.

10. A gripping device including in combination a'shaft, a plurality ofspaced apart lng initial spring tension independently on the varioussheet holding members, and

means for moving the shaft and sheet hold- .sheet holding membersmountedon the shaft, 7

ing members between open and closed position.

12. A gripping device including in combination a shaft and a pluralityof gripping means mounted thereon, each comprising a plurality V ofspring leaves of graduated lengths with their sheet-engaging ends inclose proximity to each other and means for rocking the shaft to effectthe gripping action, said device permitting the running of widelydifferent sizes of products without adjustment. i

13. A gripping device including in combination ashaft, means for rockingthe shaft, and a plurality of laminated spring leaf grippers mounted onsaid shaft, said grippers permitting the different sized products to berun side by side without change of adj ustment.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification.

CURTIS S. CRAFTS. CHARLES ALONZO HARLESS.

dependently resilient devices together be-

